MACON, Ga. — In the 1800s, families would picnic and spend weekend afternoons exploring Rose Hill Cemetery. When it was opened in 1840, the idea was to design a beautiful space where the living could enjoy nature while remembering their lost loved ones.
Through the years, many of the features like springs and a grotto have been removed. A lot of the green spaces are now filled with graves, but the five miles of trails, beautiful monuments, and scenic river views still make it a popular spot for joggers, hikers, and photographers. #Drone13 found plenty of beautiful shots, too.
It's also popular with fans of the southern rock jam band, The Allman Brothers. Gregg Allman, his brother Duane, and the band's original bassist Berry Oakley are all buried there. Fans from all over the world make pilgrimages to the spot
Just up the hill from the Allman grave sites sits neat rows of more than 850 small, simple headstones. They are part of a section set aside for Confederate soldiers. Macon had one of the largest hospitals in the south during the war. Many of the people in this section died there. Others were brought back home by their families for burial during the war.
Through the year, there are tours and "Rose Hill Rambles" where you can learn about everyone from a famous dog buried there, to the victims of a mass ax-murderer. The cemetery sits on Riverside Drive on the edge of downtown Macon.